For this exhibition, the works of five untrained, outsider artists from Arts of Life studio in Chicago were chosen because of their unique stylistic combinations and juxtapositions. This exhibition contains works that are both cute and disturbing, beautiful and frightening, colorful yet restrictive, reckless but methodical, and sacred and banal.
We’ve chosen Brut Pop as the title of this exhibition because the contradictions of the terms Brut and Pop are indicative of the incongruous forces that have come together to create the appeal of this work. While Art Brut normally refers to art made outside the bounds of official culture1, Pop Art embraces the most banal or kitschy parts of any culture.2
The artwork collected in this show is unique in the artists’ situation of being outside of mainstream culture in the common cultural areas of schooling, housing, and work, yet always absorbing and communicating back their inspiration and ideas that stem from mainstream culture.

Arts of Life is a non-profit art studio for artists who have developmental disabilities. The studio’s mission is to provide adults with developmental disabilities an environment to experience personal growth. To learn more about Arts of Life, visit their website at www.artsoflife.org